Chikungunya Workshop
The Department of Biotechnology, India (DBT) and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) are organising a workshop “Chikungunya vaccines- challenges, opportunities and possibilities” on 5th and 6th February 2018 in Delhi, India. This workshop will bring together international delegates for two days of intense dialogue on ideas, data, challenges and opportunities related to Chikungunya vaccine development
To ensure we have good mix of participants and allow for vivid discussions, participation in the workshop is invitation only. All speakers and participants will be invited to the workshop in the next couple of weeks…

EDCTP [to 4 November 2017]http://www.edctp.org/The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) aims to accelerate the development of new or improved drugs, vaccines, microbicides and diagnostics against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as well as other poverty-related and neglected infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on phase II and III clinical trials
3 November 2017GSK and EDCTP launch joint call for Senior Fellowship proposals
In response to the growing challenge of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa, GSK and EDCTP will launch a joint call…

European Vaccine Initiative [to 4 November 2017]http://www.euvaccine.eu/news-events
01 November 2017New funding to support novel DNA vaccine for therapy of leishmaniasis
Fresh funding has been awarded by the GHIT Fund to EVI and its partners from Nagasaki University, German biopharmaceutical firm Mologen AG, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to support the completion of the preclinical development of a novel leishmaniasis vaccine candidate and for preparing the conduct of a future Phase I clinical trial.

31 October 2017EVI Annual Report 2016 now available
The EVI 2016 Annual Report provides an overview of all the activities EVI was involved in during 2016.FDA [to 4 November 2017]http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/default.htm
October 31, 2017 –FDA takes unprecedented step toward more efficient global pharmaceutical manufacturing inspections
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has determined the agency will recognize eight European drug regulatory authorities as capable of conducting inspections of manufacturing facilities that meet FDA requirements. The eight regulatory authorities found to be capable are those located in: Austria, Croatia, France, Italy, Malta, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
This achievement marks an important milestone to successful implementation and operationalization of the amended Pharmaceutical Annex to the 1998 U.S.-European Union (EU) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) that enables U.S. and EU regulators to utilize each other’s good manufacturing practice inspections of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities.
“At a time in which medical product manufacturing is truly a global enterprise, there is much to be gained by partnering with regulatory counterparts to reduce duplicative efforts and maximize global resources while realizing the greatest bang for our collective inspectional buck,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. “By partnering with these countries we can create greater efficiencies and better fulfill our public health goals, relying on the expertise of our colleagues and refocusing our resources on inspections in higher risk countries.”…GHIT Fund [to 4 November 2017]https://www.ghitfund.org/GHIT was set up in 2012 with the aim of developing new tools to tackle infectious diseases that devastate the world’s poorest people. Other funders include six Japanese pharmaceutical ·
2017.10.31 Press RoomGHIT Fund Accelerates Promising Efforts to Find New Treatments, Vaccines and Diagnostics for Malaria, Tuberculosis, Leishmaniasis and Mycetoma
The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund, a unique Japanese public-private partnership formed to battle infectious diseases around the globe, today announced US$16.7 million to support development of new compounds for fighting malaria and tuberculosis, a leishmaniasis vaccine and drug, and a treatment for a long-ignored flesh-eating infection. The new investments also will allow scientists to pursue a critically needed diagnostic tool for detecting a relapsing form of malaria when it is hiding in the liver during its dormant phase.
Among new support for malaria drug development is US$ 1.59M to Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and Takeda Pharmaceuticals to develop an antimalarial drug candidate DSM265. DSM265 targets an essential enzyme, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), which is a critical part of the parasite making its own DNA. This completely new mode of action for an antimalarial drug will be critical in the face of resistance to both the artemisinin and partner-drug components of the current gold standard artemisinin combination treatments (ACTs) for malaria. In early-stage human testing, DSM265 has exhibited an exciting potential to both cure and prevent malaria caused by the deadly Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite. It has already been tested in patients, where, in a study last year, 12 out of 13 patients with P. falciparum malaria were cured with a single dose of 400-milligrams. The final medicine would be a combination of DSM265 with another active compound, and so we expect even better results with a combination medicine…

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 4 November 2017]http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/press/press-releasesPress releaseMSF Secures Generic Hepatitis C Treatment at $120 Compared to $147,000 Launch Price Tag
October 31, 2017
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced today it can now purchase generic hepatitis C medicines for as low as $1.40 per day, or $120 per 12-week treatment course, for two key medicines used to treat and cure this disease, sofosbuvir and daclatasvir. This dramatic price reduction—which will benefit patients in countries where MSF can supply generic versions—illustrates the importance of generic options, which could, if expanded, help countries provide treatment for millions of people and improve public health by preventing the spread of this disease.NIH [to 4 November 2017]http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases
October 31, 2017NIH establishes new research in social epigenomics to address health disparities — Grant program to break new ground in genomics and health disparities research.
The National Institutes of Health will award 10 grants to support social epigenomics research in health disparities. This investigator-initiated research is being funded as part of the Social Epigenomics Research Focused on Minority Health and Health Disparities research program, which seeks to support research to better understand the drivers of health disparities. The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), part of the National Institutes of Health, will commit $26.2 million over five years, subject to available funds, for nine awards. An additional award under this initiative will be funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) – also part of NIH…

UNAIDS [to 4 November 2017]http://www.unaids.org/enFeature storyLiving with HIV but dying from tuberculosis
03 November 2017
Global progress to End TB not fast enough to reach global TB and HIV targets
Tuberculosis (TB) retains its undesirable status as the leading infectious cause of death globally. According to the latest WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2017 launched this week, global progress in reducing new tuberculosis (TB) cases and deaths is insufficient to meet the global targets for TB and HIV, despite most deaths being preventable with early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of tuberculosis and HIV.
As part of global efforts to advance the response to TB is now being pushed higher up the global development agenda with hundreds of global leaders attending the first WHO Global Ministerial Conference on Ending TB in Moscow from 14-17 November and a dedicated United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on TB in 2018…

Update New app helps treatment adherence for people living with HIV
30 October 2017
A new mobile app for people living with HIV, Life4me+, is now available for free in 156 countries and in six languages—Armenian, English, Estonian, German, Russian and Ukrainian. The app was created by a German–Russian activist living with HIV and his team and aims to simplify medical information and treatment for people living with HIV in eastern Europe and central Asia and beyond.
The app was developed based on the experiences of its developers and HIV activists. For people living with HIV, the app works like a personal electronic patient card. It allows users to stay in touch with doctors online, saving and displaying test results, a calendar of blood tests and a prescription history, and sets up reminders about when to take medication and schedule appointments. There are also functions for recording weight, chest volume, blood pressure, disease history, HIV drug resistance, etc…

UNICEF [to 4 November 2017]https://www.unicef.org/media/
02 November 20179,500 children dying from diarrhoea each year in Afghanistan – UNICEF
KABUL, NILI, Afghanistan, 02 November 2017 – Although the number of children under five years dying from diarrhoea each year in Afghanistan has dropped below 10,000 for the first time, the disease still claims the lives of 26 children each day across the country, UNICEF said today.Wellcome Trust [to 4 November 2017]https://wellcome.ac.uk/newsNews / Published: 1 November 2017New group to advise Wellcome on diversity and inclusionThe first meeting of Wellcome’s new steering group for Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) takes place this week.
It’s the next step in our commitment to increase the diversity of the people we fund, engage with and employ, and create a research culture in which everyone feels able to contribute their ideas…Who’s who in the D&I steering group
The group has 12 external members – Catherine Brown, Andrea Callender, Prof Jane Clarke, Lenna Cumberbatch, Dr Robbie Dushinsky, Liz Ellis, Patrick Johnson, Elizabeth Lynch, Katherine Rake, Dr Nicola Rollock, David Ruebain and Adrian Shooter. Together, they have extensive experience of leading on D&I initiatives in a broad mix of settings, from corporate, healthcare and higher education to research environments and public engagement.